https://indianmasterminds.com

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Offering Good Food and Good Income, Varanasi’s Didi Café is a Hit

To provide livelihood to women self-help groups, CDO, Varanasi, IAS officer Himanshu Nagpal, started the Didi Cafés Didi Café is a canteen in schools and colleges of the district where the SHG women provide nutritional food to the students Through the café, the women are getting monthly income of five to seven thousand rupees
Indian Masterminds Stories

IAS officer Himanshu Nagpal, who is the Chief Development Officer of Varanasi, came up with the idea of a cafe to be manned solely by the women of Self-Help Groups, and also to be named exclusively after them. And, thus, Didi Cafe came into existence, with the aim to provide livelihood and employment to the self-help group women of the district.

This initiative is especially for the women of the self-help group associated with the National Rural Livelihood Mission Varanasi. And they are now running canteens in the schools and colleges of the district under the name – ‘Didi Café’.

Speaking with Indian Masterminds, Mr. Nagpal shared details about the cafe initiative.

DIDI CAFÉ OPENS

Under the initiative, the administration has trained self-help group women to cook better nutritional food, which was earlier lacking in the schools. Although mid-day meals were available in the basic schools, inter-colleges and high schools had no provision where children could get any nutritional food. Hence, they used to go outside to have food.

“So, we have trained our SHG women on how to cook tasty and nutritional food and then opened up the ‘Didi Café within the school campuses, where we are providing nutritional food at a reasonable price to the children,” Mr. Nagpal said.

A MoU has been signed between the educational institutions and the self-help group, whereby the women would cook nutritional food for the educational institution. This would serve two purposes. The women’s income would go up and the school and college children would get nutritional diet daily.

“These self-help group women are getting good amount of money from a sustainable source now. In the regular canteens in government offices, the SHG women have to stay throughout the day. Whereas, the Didi café stays open only for 2-3 hours during the break time in the schools. So the rest of the time can be used for household chores and other works by the women,” Mr. Nagpal said.

In the cafe, food items are provided at reasonable prices which helps the students, while through these earnings, the women are being able to meet their household expenses comfortably as they are earning Rs. 200-250 daily and up to five to seven thousand a month.

HELPING BOTH STUDENTS AND WOMEN

Mr. Nagpal informed that they are getting a very positive response from the school authorities as well as the SHG women. However, initially, there were some apprehensions from the school authorities regarding getting outsiders inside the campus. So, the administration had to conduct several meetings and initiate dialogues between the SHGs and the schools to finally get the cafe plan approved. After that, MoUs were signed and the Didi Café was formally flagged off in October this year. These cafes are being opened not only in government schools and colleges, but also in private ones.

“Around 52 cafes have been started and our target is to open 100 cafes by the end of this year and cover all our inter and degree colleges with this initiative. Our end target is over 500 cafes. With every canteen, at least 3 SHG female would benefit and thousands of students would get nutritional food,” said Mr. Nagpal.

HOW THE NAME CAME ABOUT

About giving the name ‘Didi Café, Mr. Nagpal said that the SHG women are popularly known as ‘Didi” is also a catchy word, so they started the café with that name.

Not just nutritional food, the cafes also keeps stationary items, and there is a plan to add personal hygiene and menstrual hygiene products as well.


Indian Masterminds Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Related Stories
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
NEWS
Indian Bureaucracy News Latest
Key Bureaucratic Moves: Dr. Pallavi Jain Govil Gets Additional Labour Charge; Rahul Raichur Appointed PS to Minister Pralhad Joshi
Bihar Government-resized-IM
Bihar Govt Doubles Honorarium for Jeevika Workers, Cuts Interest Rates on Loans for SHGs Ahead of Polls - Details Inside
BHajan Lal Sharma
Rajasthan: 21 IAS Officers Given Addl Charges Amid Transfer of 62 Officers; Abhay Kumar Gets IGCB Chair - Check Full List Here
CM Nitish Kumar
Bihar: CM Nitish Kumar Announces Major Hike in Social Security Pension Ahead of Polls - All Details Inside
Uttar Pradesh CM resized
Bhadohi Carpets Powering Uttar Pradesh's Export Economy: CM Yogi Adityanath Lauds Bhadohi's Role During Development Review Visit
CM Pushkar Dhami-resized
Uttarakhand: CM Pushkar Singh Dhami Lays Foundation for Major Infrastructure Projects in Rishikesh - Know More
CM Vishnu Deo Sai - resized
Chhattisgarh CM Inaugurates Rs 3.45 Crore Development Projects in Duldula - Full Details Inside
Sharad Agarwal IPS
Who is IPS Sharad Agarwal Appointed as New Mizoram DGP? Know About Him
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
WhatsApp Image 2025-06-23 at 12.39
Retired Officers Lead 7-Day Mission to Revive Betwa River with 55 Check Dams | Video Interview
Inderjit Singh Interview Plane Crash
What ill-fated pilots of AI171 may have gone through in those 40 seconds before the crash? Intro:
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi’s 27-Year Odyssey with Indian Railways | Exclusive Interview
ADVERTISEMENT
UPSC Stories
Sanish Kumar Singh
“If you want it badly enough, you’ll find a way,” Sanish Kumar Singh AIR 8, UPSC IFS 2024 
The real interview, he says, was much more humane. “The board was conversational. The chairman opened...
Raju Wagh
When the Battlefield Became a Study Room and a Dream Took Flight
Amid IED blasts and anti-Maoist operations in Bastar, CRPF Commando Raju Wagh taught village kids, studied...
WhatsApp Image 2025-06-18 at 10.31
"I Just Wanted to Breathe Again": The Man Who Fought Death and Made It to UPSC
Struck by COVID at the peak of his UPSC prep, Devanand Telgote spent months on ECMO, unsure he'd live,...
Social Media
Tigress Arrowhead
The End of an Era: A Queen Falls - Ranthambore’s Iconic Tigress Arrowhead (T-84) Passes Away at 14, Hours After Daughter’s Relocation
Ranthambore mourns the loss of one of its fiercest and most beloved tigers, Arrowhead, the granddaughter...
Screenshot 2025-06-13 194001
Wild Elephant Disrupts Riverside Picnic, Sparks Debate on Human Encroachment; IFS Parveen Kumar Shares the Video - Watch Here!
Mr. Kaswan used the viral video, which has garnered over 1.5 lakh views, to highlight the risks of human...
Tiger jump Sundarban
Stunning Viral Video Shows Royal Bengal Tiger Making Spectacular 30-Foot Leap Across River in Sunderbans - See It Here
Retired Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Susanta Nanda shared the clip online, which quickly went...
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Latest
Indian Bureaucracy News Latest
Key Bureaucratic Moves: Dr. Pallavi Jain Govil Gets Additional Labour Charge; Rahul Raichur Appointed PS to Minister Pralhad Joshi
Bihar Government-resized-IM
Bihar Govt Doubles Honorarium for Jeevika Workers, Cuts Interest Rates on Loans for SHGs Ahead of Polls - Details Inside
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Videos
WhatsApp Image 2025-06-23 at 12.39
Inderjit Singh Interview Plane Crash
IRAS Ananth Rupanagudi
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT